Holiday rentals in Umbria, Italy

Typical Umbrian food

The medieval town of Todi is situated on top of a hill overlooking the surrounding green hills. Except for the 16th Century Church of Santa Maria della Consolazione, the musea, the cosy squares and the old houses are almost all inside the antique city walls.

Quite a few activities and events are organised in Todi, like the yearly market on November 11th, Saint Martin’s day. From the Piazzale della Consolazione up to the Piazza del Popolo there are more than 200 market stalls with porchetta sandwiches, dried ham, sheep cheeses, kitchen utensils, shoes, clothes, garlic, unions and much more. The atmosphere is very relaxed and cosy.

The terraces are full with locals enjoying the autumn sun accompanied by a glass of red wine or a Spritz. Families come together and stroll along the market stalls and shops.

This market is only once a year on the 11th of November, the day of San Martino. I have asked people what San Martino means and why it is celebrated on that day, thinking it was linked to the start of the Carnival season. San Martino is one of the patron saints of the town of Todi.

Saint Martin lived in the 4th century and after having been a soldier for many years he turned to Christianity and founded an abbey in France where he became the bishop of Tours. He was buried on November the 11th in the year 397.

All over Italy on this day there are local activities celebrating the last days of relative warmth before the start of winter, it is the end of the harvest season, the new wine is celebrated, as well as the new olive oil.

November may not be your first choice to travel to Italy but autumn does have its unique charms. It is the period of the new olive oil, wine, chestnuts, dried fruit and clementines. On every corner of the street one finds somebody selling warm chestnuts often with the new ‘novello’ wine. With the warm autumn sun that gives the landscape unique colours it is great to enjoy all these local delicacies.

UNTO stands for Unesco, Natura, Territorio, Olio and is an event in Assisi where the new DOP Umbrian olive oil is celebrated. UNTO is organised around the Frantoi Aperti from October 28 to November 26, 2017. In Umbria this is the period that the olives are picked and the new olive oil is being pressed. Olive oil mills open their doors and many activities are being organised.

The first weekend of UNTO on the main square in Assisi, there was a large tent with market stalls where you could taste and buy many local specialties. I pleasantly strolled along the stalls and enjoyed the sight of all these local products.

Umbrian craft beer is a real delicacy for beer lovers. At the entrance of the huge tent in Assisi, I found Giovanni serving his locally brewed beer. Giovanni is the owner of the San Biagio brewery in Nocera Umbra, not far from Assisi.

A few years ago I had a beer tasting tour at the San Biagio brewery. We tasted all kinds of Umbrian craft beer. I was with friends from Belgium and when Belgians say that San Biagio craft beer is of high quality, you can trust it!

On the first day of the UNTO event there were a lot of visitors in Assisi. Italians, but also foreign tourists. During this event quite some activities are on the program, from exhibitions to tastings, from courses to music performances.

And again I discovered a great food event in Umbria where I will definitely return.

Between Lake Trasimeno and Perugia are the holiday apartments of La Pergola. It has nine apartments and a large pool. At 4 km distance is Castel Rigone where you find a bakery, a bar and a grocery store.

Friends of mine were on a holiday at La Pergola in apartment Orvieto. They were five adults and a baby. Of course I already knew the apartments, but hanging out there as a tourist was my first experience. It really felt like a holiday! The views from the pool surprised me, so amazing. I loved it.

It was incredibly warm, so cooling down in the pool was almost a necessity that day. It was nice to meet other guests from Villa in Umbria around the pool. It is always pleasant to hear from guests how they spend their holidays and that they’re enjoying their time in Umbria. Also my Belgian friends were having a good time visiting many places like Assisi and Perugia, and also Cortona in Tuscany, all easy to reach from La Pergola.

In the evening we went to Castel Rigone for the local festival called “La Festa dei Barbari”, the festival of barbarians. A yearly sagra which takes place early August. Before dinner, we paid for our food and the wine was inclusive, how wonderful! Local barbarians served us free red and white wine at our table.

We drank wine as water and we ate as barbarians. We’ve tasted almost everything! After the food there was music, dance and theatre. A great experience when you’re on a holiday in Umbria.